A coach at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations has now emphasised his desire to not leave the competition amid fears of an early exit.
Algeria head coach Djamel Belmadi admitted to feeling the pressure heading into their final group stage clash, but added that he and his side are well accustomed to being under duress.
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The Greens are yet to win a match at the continental showpiece and have picked up just two points in two games. The nation's fate will be decided upon the outcome of their make-or-break clash against Mauritania on Tuesday evening.
The 2019 AFCON winners may not have had the start to the campaign they would have hoped for but according to Belmadi, the side are still determined to ensure they reach the Round of 16.
"It is an important and decisive match, and although we do not have enough time to prepare for it, we are obligated to win it in order to ensure qualification," the coach said in a pre-match press conference per Radio Algerie.
"We are always under pressure, and this is the high level of football. The most important thing is that we are ready for this date. We trained well in Algeria and Lomé (Togo), especially from the physical aspect, and the elements recovered well."
"The psychological leap to return is not surprising, because I know my team well. We do not want to leave the competition and we will fight until the last moment.
"We have to reduce mistakes and be more effective in front of goal, and we will focus on that in tomorrow's match."
"I love pressure, and football involves a lot of emotions and efforts. The players want to give their best performance, so we expect it to be a wonderful battle," he added.
Mauritania coach Amir Abdou, however, admitted that while the two sides' objectives in the competition may differ significantly, the Lions of Chinguetti will not roll over for the "favourites".
"We are going to have a very important game against the favorite of this group. It is going to be a very complicated game and we know we are going to play against a very good team. This is a team that has lot of high quality players," Abdou said per CAF.
"We are not here to distribute points, we are here to do our best and we will do everything possible to be at the right level."
"We do acknowledge the level of the opponent. What we are looking for as Mauritania is our first victory. Algeria is looking for the title, but we are looking for the victory," the manager added.
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